The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies
by Cheese Nachos Supreme
Summary: Otherwise having met and helped the army of plants defeat the zombies in her hometown, Mexico City, Maria-Elena is just a normal Mexican girl with too much time on her hands this summer holiday.
1. Going Absolutely Nuts

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter ****O****ne: ****Going Absolutely Nuts**

It was the summer holidays. Every student had burst out of school with renewed energy at the thought of the glorious days ahead, including Maria-Elena. But now, she was not so sure.

The best part of summer holiday? _There was simply nothing to do._

The worst part of summer holiday? _There was simply nothing to do._

Maria-Elena's parents weren't at home, and she was an only child. She got so bored that she finally found herself wandering aimlessly in the garden bringing a book with her. Maybe she would try to read in the garden and relax. Relaxing isn't the same as doing nothing, no?

She finally came to the end of the garden, where there were a few orange rocks bordering the flower bed. She decided to sit down on one of the rocks. She sat.

And the next second she heard a piercing shriek!

The voice that shrieked was not like any voice she had ever heard. It was rather squeaky as if it belonged to a small kid, and it was also rather muffled.

Maria-Elena gasped and sprang up again, her heart pounding like a drum.

"What in Mexico City was that?" she wondered, looking around. A flowerbed of marigolds and rosemaries, and the small patch of herb plants blooming in the corner.

She turned in a full circle.

None! She saw no one who could have screamed. Then whose voice _was_ that?

"Oi, you!"

Maria-Elena jumped. There was another voice! It was different this time, it was deep as if it belonged to a grown-up. She looked around but again, saw no one. "I must be hearing things," she thought.

She wasn't, for he heard that voice again.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you, big girl!" the voice snapped in an angry tone.

"Who... Who's that?" Maria-Elena cried out, backing away. "Where are you? I can hear you but I can't see you! Why don't you come out and show yourself?!"

The voice snorted. "Show yourself, you say?" Another snort. "We _have_ showed ourselves, you big girl. You just didn't look carefully enough. Pffft! We were here the entire time."

Maria-Elena didn't understand. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Snort! "Down here," said the voice.

Maria-Elena looked down, although she wasn't sure why she was following the voice's orders. She wasn't even sure the voice was real. Maybe she really had imagined all that?

"Sí, this is nuts now," she said aloud. "Now I'm talking to the rock I've been sitting on."

"EXACTLY!" the voice suddenly thundered, making Maria-Elena jump a mile. "But you got one thing wrong, you big girlie, the thing you were sitting on was not a rock. It was a _nut. He _is a he also happened to be my son."

Maria-Elena's eyes were still roving for whoever or whatever could have spoken that she took no attention to what it was saying. It couldn't have been the rock who had said that.

Could it?

Her vision landed on the orangey-brown rock he had been sitting on, and...

WAIT a minute.

It can't be!

"¡Ay caramba!" she cried. "The thing I was sitting on has eyes and a mouth...?!"

Indeed, the rock had eyes and a sad, down turned mouth, and it was wobbling as tears slid down its rocky skin.

"No, this can't be right. I must be seeing things. Maybe I'm dreaming. Maybe I've fainted. This just can't be right," she repeated over and over.

"HELLO!?"

Maria-Elena jumped when the voice shrieked, and that was when she saw a taller rock, standing beside the smaller rock on which she had sat.

It also had a face.

It was more rugged and rocky (literally) and it was wearing a scowl on his face. Maria-Elena's eyes widened. Did it have a mustache?!

The rock glared. "You could have looked before you sat," it snapped. "That was my _son _you were sitting on, simpleton." He looked at the smaller roc- _nut_ _- _which was still crying.

Maria-Elena didn't know what to say. It wasn't her fault - you wouldn't know what to say either if a gigantic nut suddenly blamed you for sitting on its son.

"Um... Sorry?" she said, hoping that this was the response the father nut was expecting.

It was.

"Ooohh, are you OK, my son?" the rock cooed to its son as if he had lost interest in Maria-Elena. "Don't worry - the big girlie didn't mean to sit on you. She was just being a pathetic, scatterbrained, silly, air-headed, nose-in-the-clouds simpleton for sitting on you."

The small nut's crying subsided to a few pathetic sniffs and wheezes. "Are you sure, Dad?" it asked.

"Of course, my son. Of course," the father said, and the small one finally stopped crying completely. It grinned instead. Maria-Elena was surprised at how fast its expression changed.

If Maria-Elena was irritated at having been called a pathetic, scatterbrained, silly, air-headed, nose-in-the-clouds simpleton, she didn't show it. She still didn't understand what was going on, why were there talking nuts in her garden, to care about that.

"Nuts aren't supposed to be able to talk," she said.

The father glared at her again. "And you think we are just ordinary nuts?"

Maria-Elena stared at the nut duo. They certainly didn't look like normal nuts.

"We're not ordinary nuts," the tall nut said slowly, as if he was talking to a five-year-old. "Uno, we don't look like ordinary nuts. Dos, we don't sound like ordinary nuts. Tres, we ARE NOT ORDINARY NUTS!"

Maria-Elena jumped back in surprise. "¡Sí, sí! Sheesh. You didn't have to shout, either," she grumbled.

The tall nut paid no attention. "We are a special species of talking nuts," he went on. "We are zombie-fighting nuts! We are the best picks for steel-clad defense." Now its eyes were practically shining. It didn't look quite as fierce as when Maria-Elena had first seen him.

Maria-Elena frowned. "Zombie-fighting nuts? Steel-clad defense? What exactly are you talking about? You sound like someone who goes to war."

The nut's expression changed again to that of exasperation.

"We DO go to war! Against the zombies!"

"What zombies?"

The nut sighed. "Oh, big girl, don't you know that zombies have been to Mexico City?"


	2. And When the Zombies Come

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Two: And When the Zombies Come**

There was silence for a few seconds.

"What?" Maria-Elena repeated. "Zombies have been here? What were they trying to do? What zombies? I still don't understand."

The tall nut's rocky face went red with frustration. "Zombies! Don't you know zombies?! Zombies like... Like..."

"LIKE THOSE!" the small nut shrieked suddenly.

Maria-Elena and both nuts turned to see the entrance of the garden. Maria-Elena was horrified to see zombies climbing over the fence!

...

The zombies had green flesh. Some of their eyes had popped out of their sockets and they were missing many teeth. Some had their tongues hanging uselessly out of their mouths.

They were wearing jackets, pants, ties, and shoes, but all were decayed and torn. Their arms looked as if they were on the verge of falling off.

They were a sorry sight.

And they were drawing nearer!

"BATTLE STATIONS!"

Suddenly Maria-Elena heard another voice shout. All eyes turned to a yellow flower with green leaves and a face, planted behind the nuts. The inside of the flower was hollow, and it was wearing a determined expression on its face.

It clearly seemed to be the one in charge.

"Señor Tall-Nut! Wall-Nut Junior!" it called to the nuts. "Battlestations! The zombies are coming! Get yourselves ready! Zombie attack, everyone! Zombie attack!"

It was obviously the one in charge, because gruff Tall-Nut even nodded and shouted, "¡Sí, Repeater!" without even an argument.

The yellow flower kept shouting orders at a series of names Maria-Elena didn't know. "Sunflower! Some sunlight, please! Peashooter! Get the attack line ready! Cherry Bomb! Potato-Mine! EVERYONE TO THEIR POSITIONS! Zombie attack! Zombie attack!"

For the first time he suddenly saw Maria-Elena. "Umm, what's she doing here?" he asked Tall-Nut.

"Oh, she's the girl who lives in this house," Tall-Nut said. "Air-headed girl. Such a simpleton."

"Well, why don't you tell her to go back into the house or something?" the yellow flower called Repeater said. "Her standing there defenselessly is sort of breaking my concentration."

"You heard her, girl," Tall-Nut said. "Go back where you came from."

"Wait," Maria-Elena said. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on and WHY ZOMBIES ARE TRYING TO GET INTO THE HOUSE."

But Repeater and Tall-Nut had already lost interest in her. Repeater had even already resumed his shouting. "PEASHOOTER!"

That was when Maria-Elena realized that the yellow flower next to this one also had a face. "Yes, sir!" he shouted with a salute of his leaf.

"Ah, my right leaf Peashooter," the first one said. "I hope everyone's all ready when the zombies come."

"That's just the problem!" wailed the second flower. "Everyone's NOT ready! There isn't anyone to plant them. To move them around! They're basically rooted to the spot. Literally."

"WHAT!" Repeater shouted. "THEN WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Peashooter shouted back.

Repeater was freaking out. That was when he noticed Maria-Elena again. He stared at her with a face that said, "And what are YOU still doing here?" "Didn't you get what I said?" he snarled. "You should just go home and—"

"WAIT!"

Maria-Elena stiffened. She heard yet ANOTHER voice, a female one this time. She felt frustrated. How many talking plants _were_ there in her garden?!

Then she saw that planted next to Repeater was a sunny and cheerful-looking orange sunflower, swaying back and forth as if dancing to a beat no one else could hear.

It also had a face with rosy cheeks.

"Ah, Señorita Sunflower," said Repeater. "What is it?"

The sunflower shook her, well, flower. "I don't think it's wise to tell her to go home," she said.

Repeater frowned at her. "¿Sí? And why is that? She can serve no purpose to us!"

"Or so you think," Sunflower countered. "Repeater, you know our problem, our weakness."

"Sí, of course," he replied. "We need someone who can move to help move us around. We're plants, we have no feet." He mumbled the last part. He didn't seem to understand why no plant has feet, not even special zombie-fighting plants.

"Exactly," said Sunflower. "That's why we're going to need her help."

Maria-Elena knew they were talking about her. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Whoa, whoa, wait," she said, shaking his head. "My help? To do what exactly? What can I do against those zombies?"

"You can't do anything against the zombies," huffed Tall-Nut, but Maria-Elena secretly agreed with him.

Sunflower smiled. "You don't have to do anything against those zombies, dear," she assured her. "Your job is only to help move us around so we can attack them. You leave all the zombie-exterminating to us."

Maria-Elena didn't say anything. She didn't look so sure.

"Oh, hurry up!" Wall-Nut Junior cried out. "The zombies are coming!"

Maria-Elena sighed. She had no idea what was going on, but the look on Repeater's face told her that the decision was already sealed.

She wasn't going anywhere.

"All right, I'll help," she said.

Sunflower grinned. "Brilliant! Now to introduce you to our party," she said.


	3. Three is Two Too Many

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Three: Three is Two Too Many**

A few moments later, Tall-Nut's friends were barricading the far end of the garden to keep the zombies away, and behind them, Repeater's teammates were shooting peas at the oncoming zombies. Maria-Elena was the one who moved them. Planting Repeater's teammates was easy, but it was a different matter altogether when it comes to moving Tall-Nut's friends.

However, Tall-Nut was right, for his friends had steel-clad defense. None of the zombies managed to get past their defense forces, and their heads were already falling off, hit by the peas.

"OK," said Repeater. "Meet our army, err... Um... Whatsername?"

"Maria-Elena," said Maria-Elena.

"Right," said Repeater sheepishly. "Maria-Elena, meet our zombie-exterminating army! First of all, there's myself, as the commander of the army," he said rather proudly.

"Literally," Tall-Nut said under his breath, but Repeater didn't hear him.

"I'm the one who attacks the zombies by shooting peas," he went on. "I shoot two peas at a time. There's also my second-in-command Peashooter here," - a similar yellow flower but with a more docile look on his face nodded - "But he shoots one pea at a time."

"Um. Right," Maria-Elena said, trying to remember the names of the plants. "And then?"

"Then there's Sunflower," Repeater went on. "As everyone already knows, plants need sunlight to grow, and Sunflower here does just that - she gives you sunlight. She's the most basic plant to have around so make sure you've got plenty of sunflowers."

"And then we give you the plants in our defense force," he said. "Of course, Tall-Nut and Wall-Nut Junior. Tall-Nut is the plant with the highest defense here, but he needs a lot of sunlight. Wall-Nut Junior has a bit less defense than Tall-Nut, but he doesn't need as much sunlight."

"Mmm. OK," said Maria-Elena. "And then?"

"Then there's Potato Mine," he went on, looking at a plant which resembled a potato. However, the plant was half buried in the ground and had an antennae on its head. "He will blow up the first zombie that reaches him. However, he takes his time to get ready, so make sure a zombie doesn't reach him before he is."

"Finally, there's Cherry Bomb," he said, this time turning to a pair of red cherries with scowling faces. "He can be your last resort plan, because he can blow up a whole group of zombies and do massive damage. However, he needs a lot of sunlight."

"Well!" He looked around at the plants. "That's your basic zombie-fighting army."

"What army?"

Suddenly there was a very smooth voice. It was the smoothest voice Maria-Elena has ever heard.

And then, the crowd parted to reveal a flower that looked like Repeater and Peashooter, but it was blue instead of yellow. At the back of its long, hollow flower, it seemed to have a crown made of ice crystals. Its eyes were as cold as ice.

"Señorita Snow Pea!" swooned Repeater. "You are just in time for your introduction. We are introducing our army to this newbie - she's Maria-Elena, she lives in this house, and she's going to help move us around."

Repeater turned to Maria-Elena. "Maria-Elena, this is Snow Pea," he said, his eyes shining and his face red. "She also shoots peas at the zombies, but they're frozen peas and they slow the zombie if they hit."

"OK. Nice to meet you, Snow Pea," said Maria-Elena distractedly. Repeater had dissolved to mush at the roots of Snow Pea! Sure, Snow Pea is very beautiful. But while Sunflower is also beautiful in a warm, friendly way, Snow Pea is beautiful in a cooler, more charismatic and mysterious way.

"Ah, is that so?" Snow Pea turned to Maria-Elena. Her face looked expressionless. "Muchas gracias. We can't do our job without someone to help move us around."

"De nada," Maria-Elena was about to say, but was interrupted by Snow Pea's next comment. "What are we standing around here for, then? It's time for action!" she said impatiently.

"Wait, you!"

"Yeah, you!"

Maria-Elena was not surprised to hear two other different voices. There sure were a lot of talking plants in her garden. This time, the speaker was another yellow flower like Repeater and Peashooter, but it had three flowers on one stem.

"You're forgetting us, you!" the first flower cried out.

"Yeah, you!" exclaimed the second flower.

The third flower said nothing.

Repeater sighed. "Of course I'm not forgetting you," he said. "Maria-Elena, meet Threepeater. My brother. He can shoot peas in three different lanes." He turned to the new plant. "Threepeater, meet our new team member, Maria-Elena."

Maria-Elena was a bit surprised that Threepeater was Repeater's brother although they were both yellow flowers. They seemed so different! Threepeater was more laid-back while Repeater was more serious.

"Nice to meet you," said the first flower.

"Yeah, you," said the second flower.

The third flower said nothing.

The first and second flowers turned to the third one and glared. "Hey! Are you not going to say anything?!" the first flower demanded. "Yeah, you!" said the second flower. The third flower snapped to attention. "Uh. What?"

"Oh forget it, you," sighed the first flower. "Yeah, you," said the second.

The third flower didn't say anything.

"OK!" Repeater shouted. "Time to send those zombies packing!"


	4. Lawnmowers vs Zombies

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Four: Lawnmowers vs. Zombies**

And that was how Maria-Elena found herself in the action as well - planting Peashooters and Sunflowers and moving Wall-Nuts and Tall-Nuts.

The first plant she planted was Sunflower herself. She had taken Repeater's advice - that sunflowers were the most basic plant so they should be planted first. She was able to collect enough sunlight to plant another sunflower. The sunlight she got from the two sunflowers were enough to plant a peashooter when the first zombie started to come.

She planted Potato-Mines in front of zombies wearing traffic cones on their heads because they were tougher than ordinary zombies. However, she remembered to plant them a few minutes before the zombies reached the Potato-Mines because she remembered Repeater's advice that Potato-Mines take a long time to get ready.

Then came zombies with metal buckets on their heads, but Maria-Elena was able to repel that too. She learnt that buckethead zombies were even tougher than conehead zombies, but the Potato-Mines were also enough to keep them away.

Repeater had said that her objective was to keep the zombies from entering her house.

"Why?" Maria-Elena had asked. The zombies had looked pretty weak and harmless to her.

Threepeater had stared at her.

"Because zombies like to eat people's brains, you," PeaOne had said.

"Yeah, you," PeaTwo had chimed in.

Of course, PeaThree hadn't said anything.

Maria-Elena was once a bit panicked when she saw a buckethead zombie that had escaped past her defenses, but Sunflower told her not to worry. She didn't know why she wasn't worried. Sure, there wasn't anyone else in her house whose brain can be eaten up but still, her parents would surely freak out if they knew that zombies had visited their modest, ordinary house in Mexico City. The plants, however, didn't seem to care, which to Maria-Elena was weird, since they were supposed to be protecting her house.

Then she saw why.

"Lawnmowers," said Repeater calmly as he and Maria-Elena watched a red lawnmower at the end of the lawn roar to life by itself and it practically shredded the buckethead zombie and every other zombie in its path. "They're super-effective to be your last-resort plan, when you don't have enough sunlight for a Cherry Bomb."

He casually turned to Maria-Elena, whose mouth was in a perfect O. "Lawnmowers are cool, but now you need to watch out for zombies in that lane. If another zombie in that lane reaches the house, you can say that you're jolly well zombie food because that lane is not protected by any lawnmowers anymore."

Finally, every zombie had been either hit to second death by the peas or shredded to tiny particles, and so Repeater's crew assembled by Tall-Nut's and Wall-Nut Junior's spot at the end of the garden.

"Well done, plants," said Repeater. "We jolly well sent those zombies packing."

"We didn't, you! We totally pulverized 'em!" shouted PeaOne. "Yeah, you!" exclaimed PeaTwo.

Repeater sighed. "Yes, well, OK if you want to put it that way." He turned to the other plants. "I think that's the last of 'em we'll see today, so let's just kick back and enjoy this zombie-less peace. You too, Maria-Elena. Well done," Repeater added.

"Muchas gracias," said Maria-Elena distractedly, but she was actually thinking about one of Repeater's comments.

That's the last of 'em we'll see _today_?


	5. The Zombies Come at Night

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Five: The Zombies Come at Night**

Until she went to bed, Maria-Elena hadn't told her parents about her encounter with the plants and the zombies. She was beginning to think that it was all a dream. Maybe she fell asleep in the garden or something.

Or maybe not.

Maria-Elena was sleeping soundly when she was semiconsciously aware of a rattling sound on her window, as if someone was knocking on the glass. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked at the window.

_Knock!_

She was surprised when something small and heavy hit the glass. The next second, the same thing happened again.

_Knock!_

Then she realized that the things were stones. Someone was throwing stones at her window!

She jumped out of bed and went to the window. The moment she peered through the glass, the stone-throwing stopped.

It was replaced by a little, high-pitched voice!

"Maria-Elena! Come here! Come quick!"

Then there was another voice: "Oh, come _on_. She can't possibly hear you. Your voice is so _small_!" Maria-Elena saw the sarcasm in this, because the second voice was as small as the first one.

"Oh don't be such a pessimist!" the first voice said. Then he resumed his shouting, "Maria-Elena! Come here! We need your help!"

Maria-Elena had a hunch that it was another plant. _Another_ one! And it was calling for her. She wondered whose voice that was - she didn't recognize it. She didn't think the plant was from Repeater's army.

"Yoohoo! Dearie! Mi vida! I can see you there! Come on down!"

There was a third voice and this time she recognized it as Sunflower's. Relieved that she'd heard a familiar voice, she hurried quickly but quietly down.

"Ah! There you are, chico!" said Sunflower. She looked as fresh as any daisy although it was late at night.

"I'm here," Maria-Elena said, trying to stifle a yawn. What did the plants want now? "What is it?"

"The zombies, that's why!" the small voice piped up. "Duh!" the second small voice added.

Maria-Elena looked down, and saw two identical, small purple mushrooms. They had dark purple caps and spots in a lighter shade of purple. They had faces. "Who are you?" she burst out.

"We," the first mushroom said, "Are the Puff-Shrooms! The first line of defense in the Night Army."

"The Night Army?"

"Sí, mi chico," said Sunflower. "You see, our zombie-fighting army is divided into two: the Day Army and the Night Army." She looked up at the starry black sky, her lively eyes shining. "Look up there, mi vida. What do you see?"

Maria-Elena looked up, wondering what the sky had to do with plants and zombies. "Stars. I see stars."

"Sí. But no sun."

"And what does that have to do with Day Armies and Night Armies?"

"Ohh, you are so slow!" Puff-Shroom #2 cried out. "We need SUNLIGHT to grow. So the plants are divided into two groups, the Day plants and the Night plants according to how much they need sunlight."

"That's right," put in Puff-Shroom #1. "The Day plants are plants which need a lot of sunlight, such as Peashooter, Threepeater, and Repeater himself. I reckon you have met him, ¿no?"

"Sí," Maria-Elena said. "I have."

"The Night plants are plants which don't need a lot of sunlight to grow," Puff-Shroom #1 went on. "That's why they're better for nighttime battles, when the only sunlight you get is from our one-and-only Señorita Sunflower here."

Suddenly Maria-Elena understood. At night, it was better to use Night plants, which don't need a lot of sunlight, because at night there is no sun to provide her that. The only sunlight she'd get is the sunlight from Sunflower.

"Repeater's army is called the Day Army," said Sunflower. "That's because he leads Day plants. But he sleeps at night, so that's when the Night Army kicks in." She chuckled.

"The Night Army consists of us fungus friends," chorused Puff-Shrooms #1 and #2. "We need very little sunlight. We're perfect for midnight zombie-fighting!"

Maria-Elena nodded, trying not to fall asleep. "Sí. So what do I have to do now?" _Why did you call me in the dead of the night? _she thought, but she didn't say that aloud.

She would have loved to hear Sunflower say that they were only giving him a late-night crash course on Day and Night plants, but she didn't. Instead she said, "Zombie-fighting, of course. Why else, chico?"


	6. Zoomin' Shrooms Rule!

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Six: Zoomin' Shrooms Rule**

Next Maria-Elena would have loved to start right there and then so she could get back to sleep, but maybe she was just having tough luck that night.

"WAIT!" cried Puff-Shroom #2. "We can't just start right now! She needs to know who else are in the Night Army or she'll start picking out and planting the wrong plants and bringing doom and destruction upon us all!"

Maria-Elena nearly snorted. What a drama king.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot," Sunflower said cheerfully. "First of all, mi vida, you need to know your team."

* * *

Maria-Elena was surprised when Tall-Nut and Wall-Nut Jr. rolled out to meet her. '_Them?_' she would have liked to ask Sunflower, but she didn't. She didn't fancy meeting the two nuts again.

"Buenas noches, everyone," yawned Tall-Nut. "Ugh, I am so sleepy," moaned Wall-Nut Jr. Maria-Elena would have loved to tell him that he could go back to sleep if he wanted, that little spoiled nut, but again, she didn't.

Next came a plant that resembled Puff-Shroom but was bigger and fatter. Maria-Elena sleepily noted that it looked just a pillow.

"This is Fume Shroom," Sunflower said. "His attacks can even go through screen doors, so use him to attack Screen Door Zombies."

"Screen doors?" Maria-Elena was horrified. "Where did they get them?"

Tall-Nut rolled his eyes. "Why, the last house they invaded, of course," he snarled. "After eating the owner's brain, they usually rip off their front doors to use as shields on their next invasion. That's why they're tougher and harder to defeat."

"Right," Maria-Elena shuddered.

Then she met a mushroom with a purple cap like Puff-Shroom and Fume Shroom, but was very slender. "Meet Señorita Scaredy-Shroom," said Sunflower. "Hola," said Scaredy-Shroom in a voice barely audible. "I'm scaredy."

"Scaredy-_Shroom_," Puff-Shroom #2 corrected her. Then he whispered in Maria-Elena's ear, "But she's right, in a way. Whenever zombies get too close for her comfort, she stops attacking and hides. She's such a scaredy shroom!"

"And now, this is my son, Sun Shroom," Sunflower went on, and Maria-Elena saw a cute yellow mushroom peeking from behind Sunflower. "He also gives you sunlight. He gives tiny sunlight at first, but after he's grown he'll give you the same amount of sunlight you can get from me."

"Finally," said Sunflower, waving a leaf at a creepy dark plant with red glowing eyes. "Meet Grave Buster. He eats stone, but luckily his favorites are tombstones. You can plant him on tombstones to get rid of them. Getting rid of tombstones eliminates zombies coming out of the ground."

Maria-Elena gasped and looked cautiously around her. "You mean... we're standing in a cemetery right now?" Her voice rose to an alarmed squeak.

"Oh no, this isn't actually a cemetery, dearie," Sunflower assured her. "It's just the zombies suddenly popping out from the ground. No need to worry."

"You're only saying that to make her feel better," squeaked Scaredy-Shroom as she dove into the ground. "Everyone knows that wherever zombies pop out of the ground, that was where they were buried."

Sunflower frowned in disapproval at her. "There is no reason to be alarmed," she told her sternly. She looked around at the Night Army – Maria-Elena and Scaredy-Shroom still cowering, the Puff-Shrooms arguing with each other, and Wall-Nut Jr. on the verge of falling asleep. "Come on, you lot," she sighed. "Pull yourselves together and let's keep those zombies away. Again."


	7. Don't Mess with Doom

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Seven: Don't Mess with Doom**

Maria-Elena was sleepily relieved when she managed to keep the zombies out of her house again. She used Fume Shrooms on zombies carrying screen doors, and Grave Busters on tombstones suddenly popping out of the ground. The zombies were no match for her. No matter how sleepy she was.

"Well done, everyone!" exclaimed Sunflower when they were done. "We sent those zombies packing again!"

"YEAH!" the Puff-Shrooms cheered, while a few others simply nodded sleepily, including Maria-Elena. Scaredy-Shroom didn't say anything out of fear.

Suddenly, a huge figure loomed behind Sunflower.

"AAAAAAHHHH! A ZOMBIE!" shrieked Scaredy-Shroom, disappearing underground again until her spotted cap was the only thing visible.

Sunflower turned around grimly. Then she laughed.

"Scaredy shroom!" she laughed. "That's not a zombie. That's Doom Shroom!"

"What?" asked Maria-Elena. "Who?"

"Doom Shroom," Sunflower repeated. "He's the leader of the Night Army." Standing next to Sunflower was an intimidating black mushroom with angry red eyes. There was a scar across his face. If this was the leader of the Night Army, Maria-Elena decided that she liked Repeater much, much more.

"Hola, Señor," Maria-Elena said shakily.

Doom Shroom only glared at her. "Do not call me 'señor'," he snapped. "I do not speak Spanish, and 'Señor Doom Shroom' just doesn't suit me."

Sunflower rolled her eyes cheerfully. "Well then, what should the girl call you?"

Doom Shroom frowned and thought for a moment. Finally he said, "You can call me... Commander Doom Shroom."

Maria-Elena gulped and only nodded.

Commander Doom Shroom turned to Sunflower again. "I hope you kept the zombies away when I was not present."

"Yup! We did!" sang Sun Shroom.

Doom Shroom nodded. "Good." Then he turned away.

"Don't worry," Sun Shroom whispered in Maria-Elena's ear. "He may seem awful, but he's actually got a soft heart!"

"Right," Maria-Elena said, although she found it hard to believe.


	8. Pool Party!

**~The Girl, the Plants, and the Zombies~**

**Chapter Eight: Pool Party!**

María-Elena was still thinking about what Commander Doom Shroom had said after exterminating the zombies the previous night.

"Since Commander Repeater seems to have been doing a good job on his part keeping the zombies away in the daytime, I can surmise that your front yard should be quite safe now," he had said without a twinge of emotion. "It is fine to kick back a little, as long as we don't lose ourselves in relaxation."

"Phew!" María-Elena and Scaredy-Shroom had murmured - María-Elena because she was tired of moving Tall-Nut and Scaredy-Shroom because she was scared of zombies.

However, María-Elena had caught the message pretty clearly: the zombies weren't coming back.

_...At least to her front yard._

María-Elena sighed. What had she gotten herself into this time? Why was she now sitting in her backyard instead, doing nothing but idly splashing her feet in the long pool?

"Señorita Sunflower?" she mumbled. "What am I doing here again? What are we waiting for, anyway?"

"Hush, mi vida," said Señorita Sunflower. She was planted next to María-Elena and was looking out at the water. "We're waiting for the Sea Shrooms... Repeater said that I needed to brief you on our navy forces..."

"What! Navy forces!"

"Sí, mi vida," Sunflower replied cheerfully. "You never know when the zombies might get smart and start learning to swim."

María-Elena only grumbled under her breath and continued swishing her feet in the water. She was supposed to be hanging out with her best friend Felicia, but Felicia had postponed it because of an emergency. So now, María-Elena was back to talking to the plants in her garden.

Suddenly, she shrieked.

"What? What is it? Is it a zombie?!" Sunflower quickly turned to her with wild eyes.

"N-no!" María-Elena's mouth was in one hard line. "I... I think I feel _hair_ with my foot...!"

"What? How is that possible?" Sunflower was about to say something else when María-Elena drew her foot to the surface of the water. Sure enough, something green and hairlike was clinging to it.

"GAH! What is this?!" she exclaimed, jerking her foot about.

That was when she heard a squeal.

"Ayayayayah! Stop! Stop!"

María-Elena looked to the thing on her foot and saw that it had... Red eyes! She quickly dipped her foot back in the water and the thing let go so that it was now bobbing on the water.

"Caramba. That was some headache you gave me," the green thing went on in a rather silvery voice. "You were messing up my _hair!_"

"Ahh." Sunflower looked up at the sky with a small smile. "I should have known. Good to see you again, Tangle Kelp."

"Tangle what?" María-Elena sputtered.

"It's Tangle Kelp for you, Señorita," the thing in the pool said. "Tangle Kelp of the Plant Navy, at your service." She let out a little giggle which was similar to a sound a string instrument might make. María-Elena actually wanted to curl her mouth, but she didn't. Tangle Kelp was so _ditzy._

"OK, OK. That's enough, ladies."

There was another voice which María-Elena knew was Repeater's. María-Elena didn't know why she only noticed him now. He was planted on her left, while Sunflower was standing on her right.

"Sí, sí, nice to see you again and all, Señorita Tangle Kelp," Repeater said in a no-nonsense manner, "But we've got more important things to do here than just sit around and chat. Such as getting our navy ready for a probable zombie water attack. I'm sorry, but we're going to have María-Elena to move you out of the pool for a minute. We need to plant the Lily Pads."

Tangle Kelp's eyes widened. "What? Move out of the pool?" She tossed her head. "No way! This pool is _my_ turf. I'm not going out of it. Besides, I'm _already_ ready for a zombie attack. See my pretty hair?" She batted her eyelashes, making her red eyes seem even more scary. "It's bound to make any zombie fall for me, and then I'll bring them to their doom in the depths of this ocean."

"You mean pool," Sunflower laughed, shaking her head. She in a hushed tone to a horrified María-Elena, "Don't worry, she IS often like that. She thinks she's a mermaid who drags sailors away. That's all right. She's always like that."

"Right," María-Elena said, keeping a close eye on Tangle Kelp.

Repeater didn't play along with Tangle Kelp. "Nope," he said. "You're going out of this pool, Señorita Tangle Kelp. I'm sorry, but we really need to get started." He turned to María-Elena. "All right, let's go."

María-Elena sighed and bent towards the water. She picked Tangle Kelp up with the tips of her fingers, while the self-proclaimed mermaid cried out in her silvery voice, "Hey, let me go! Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

She set Tangle Kelp down on the grass, where she continued to ramble on about how she had messed up her pretty hair. Only then did Repeater speak again.

"You've already met our Day Army, right? The one with Señorita Snow Pea in it?"

María-Elena rolled her eyes. "Sí." _The one with Señorita Snow Pea in it, indeed._

"All right then. We'll just have to introduce you to our navy."

"...and looks like we're just in time!" Sunflower exclaimed. "Here come the Sea Shrooms now!"

The moment she finished speaking, a few heads broke through the surface of the water. They were blue-green in color, but they were wearing army green hats. They had cute faces but stood (or rather, floated) tall and alert as if they were soldiers.

"Sea Shrooms reporting for duty!" the one at the front announced.

"Great! You're here," Repeater said. "We were going to start building our navy." He turned to María-Elena, who was speechless. "Now your job is to plant a few Lily Pads at the back, while the Sea Shrooms take their places at the front. Once you've planted Lily Pads, you can put any Day plant on it, such as myself, Sunflower, Peashooter, or Señorita Snow Pea."

_Señorita Snow Pea again,_ María-Elena thought. Repeater wasn't good at the art of subtlety.

"Hey, what about me?" a musical voice interrupted.

Repeater sighed. "Of course I wasn't about to forget about you, Señorita Tangle Kelp," he said with a look of disapproval. "You can go back in once the Lily Pads and the Sea Shrooms are ready."

"OK!" Tangle Kelp said happily, and went back to fussing with her "hair".

* * *

"Told you we needed to get started sooner or later," Repeater said calmly once their army was done. "I see the first zombies coming."

"What!" María-Elena groaned.

Sunflower laughed cheerfully. "Ooh, they're still not smart enough to start learning to swim. But I'm glad they're creative enough to at least use floaties!"

The zombies were climbing over the fence of the backyard. It was rather funny because some of them were wearing yellow duck-shaped floatation tubes.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE," Repeater said loudly. "INTO POSITIONS! ZOMBIE ATTACK! ZOMBIE ATTACK!"

"...What about me? You seem to be about to start without me." There was suddenly a voice as cool as ice, and Repeater turned and saw...

"Señorita Snow Pea!" he swooned - again. "Of course we weren't forgetting you. I've... I mean, we've... saved you a special spot on the Lily Pad in the center."

"Ah. Thank you," said Snow Pea with less emotion than a brick. "All right then, girl, plant me in."

María-Elena did. That was when she got a sudden naughty idea. "Here, let me plant you in too, Repeater," she said casually, scooping him up and placing him on the Lily Pad next to Snow Pea. She was amused when Repeater's face reddened considerably, but Snow Pea didn't seem to notice since she was already shooting frozen peas at the oncoming wave of zombies.

Meanwhile, the Sea Shrooms were doing a good job of being the first in the defense line. They shot blobs of water at the zombies.

Tangle Kelp had already met the first victim to fall for her irresistible beauty - a diver zombie. "I know you find me pretty," she giggled as she wrapped the zombie with her kelp and flickering her blood red eyes. "After all, even I myself find me pretty!~" And then they both disappeared underwater.

_Creepy,_ thought María-Elena.

But there was no time to think about that now, because the next second Repeater was shouting, "DOLPHIN! DOLPHIN ALERT!"

"Dolphin what?!" she groaned. "What dolphin?!"

"DOLPHIN ALERT," Repeater yelled. "SEÑOR TALL-NUT!"

"Over here!" Tall-Nut shouted in reply, rolling towards the pool. Wall-Nut Jr., who was next to his father, yelped, "Ohh! The dolphin zombie's already inside the yard!"

María-Elena turned and saw a zombie in a red wetsuit cilmbing over the fence. His equally undead-looking gray dolphin simply jumped over the wooden fence, and then the zombie started to climb on it.

"HURRY UP, GIRL!" shouted Tall-Nut. "Put me in already! Dolphin zombies are fast!"

"Do I really have to?" María-Elena grumbled. Tall-Nut was very heavy.

"Of course!" Repeater yelled back. "The only plants undead dolphins are unable to jump over are Tall-Nuts. Put him in _now!_"

María-Elena sighed and started to lug the heavy Tall-Nut across the grass and onto the Lily Pad in the line of the dolphin zombie. At first, Lily Pad sank underwater because of Tall-Nut's weight, but then a small voice cried out, "I'm OK!" María-Elena was surprised because none of the Lily Pads has said anything up to this point.

She was just in time. The dolphin couldn't jump over Tall-Nut and the zombie was left splashing onto the water, chewing on Tall-Nut.

"That tickles!" Tall-Nut complained, but he didn't have to worry any longer because the zombie was already getting bombarded with Snow Pea's frozen peas. His movements got slower and slower until finally his head came off and he sank under the water.

"Ugh, gross," Tall-Nut complained. "The thrill of having a zombie chew on you."

...

Finally, all the zombies had been defeated. There had been a lot of zombies walking on land and some attacked from the water, but all the plants both in the land and water did a great job.

"At the end of the day," Repeater said, "I need to say a big thanks to everyone who participated in the exterminating of the zombies today, especially our very own navy, who have had very little practice but did a marvelous job keeping the... _aquatic_ zombies at bay. That goes for the Sea Shroom group..."

The Sea Shrooms quickly floated straighter and saluted.

"Hey! What about me? I also did a nice job of captivating zombies with my beauty, right?"

"Of course, Señorita Tangle Kelp," Repeater said in a dismissive manner, then went on. "And also a big thanks to the Lily Pads, who are always there to support the land-dwelling plants in the water. Without them, we may never have defeated the zombies today."

"Aww. You're welcome," said one of the Lily Pads. "Although we didn't really do anything..."

"And, of course, also a special thanks to María-Elena, who helped us get over the weakness of not being able to walk by ourselves."

At that, Tall-Nut snorted while Wall-Nut Jr. rolled his eyes.

Repeater suddenly blushed. "And of course to Señorita Snow Pea, whose frozen peas do the talking. If it hadn't been for her, Tall-Nut would have become a zombie chewable toy."

Now it was María-Elena's turn to roll her eyes, but the other plants, led by Tall-Nut, began to cheer.

"De nada," was all Snow Pea said.

"All right everyone, you're dismissed," Repeater announced. He turned to María-Elena. "And as for you, Señorita... I have a message for you from Commander Doom Shroom." His eyes widened meaningfully, "He says to get ready, because tonight is going to be... _exciting._"


End file.
